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Oconee blotter

published Thursday, October 31, 2013

The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office reported the following incidents:

MAN ARRESTED: On Oct. 20, a deputy was dispatched to a home on South Church Street, Bogart, where a man damaged a house belonging to an 88-year-old woman. John Newton Irvin told the woman that his girlfriend was coming over, but the woman advised him that the girlfriend could not spend the night.

Irvin began screaming and cussing while he kicked the woman’s walker, threw a lamp and some jars, threw eggs from the refrigerator, broke an end table, and pulled the telephone wire from the wall. The deputy charged the 31-year-old Irvin with trespassing and took him to jail.

ID FRAUD: On Oct. 22, a 19-year-old Bishop man reported that earlier this year someone used his identification to get electricity through Walton EMC. The man said the perpetrator went to the office with his grandmother and used the complainant’s driver’s license as his identity. The man also said someone received $8,000 in medical services in his name.

SHOPLIFTING: On Oct. 22, a deputy was dispatched to Kohl’s department store, where a loss prevention officer detained a woman for leaving with $139 in clothing and jewelry. Lenora Page White, 28, of Pine Hill Circle, Watkinsville, was charged with shoplifting.

SHOPLIFTING: On Oct. 22, a deputy was sent to Lowe’s on Epps Bridge Parkway, where a woman was detained trying to leave the store with $73 in merchandise including a drill bit. Anita D. Watson, 34, of Malcom Bridge Road was charged with shoplifting.

FRAUD: On Oct. 22, Deputy Guy Brown met with a resident of Patrick Place, Watkinsville, who said someone removed $957 from her checking account in a transaction made in Westland, Mich.

THEFTS: On Oct. 23, deputies were dispatched to a construction site at the Oconee Connector behind the Guitar Center. Someone had stolen two steel pipe pillars valued at $440 and six LED floodlights valued at $204.

DISPUTE: On Oct. 23, Deputy Mark Smith was dispatched to the Walmart parking lot, where he met with a 31-year-old Athens woman, who reported she was in the store when she encountered a woman she knows. The woman told her, “You’re lucky I have my kids with me.”

The complainant took the statement as a threat and called for law enforcement.

The deputy spoke to the 42-year-old suspect from Athens and she explained she was not threatening physical violence. She said if she didn’t have her children, she would have been loud and used profanity against the other woman.

LINGERING WOMAN: On Oct. 22, a deputy was dispatched about 11 a.m. to Walmart, where an employee said a woman came into the store the previous evening about 10 p.m. The woman walked around in the store all night and employees suspected she might be shoplifting. When morning came, the woman was asked to leave, but she explained she was waiting for a ride.

The woman was told again to leave and she went to a restroom and to the Subway portion of the store.

When employees told the woman they were calling for a deputy, she left the store and drove off in a blue Ford Focus. Employees checked trash cans in Subway and the restroom and found 13 discarded items, all of which were damaged and could not be sold.

PURSE MISSING: On Oct. 22, a 29-year-old Watkinsville woman reported she went to Walmart around 1 p.m. and when she was leaving she left her purse in a shopping cart. When she returned, the purse, with 16 bank cards, a driver’s license and $111 in cash, was gone.

TOOLS STOLEN: On Oct. 24, Deputy Bill Parks met with a Monroe man who reported he left a truck parked at a home construction site in Carolina Place off Hog Mountain Road and someone cut a padlock and stole $4,950 worth of tools. Among the items missing are nail guns, levels and several power tools.

MISSING ITEMS: On Oct. 21, a resident of Arborwood Ridge, Bishop, reported that her daughter went to Florida to visit relatives, but left her purse. The relatives mailed the purse and when the sealed package was opened, the purse was missing its contents including gift cards and a debit card.

FRAUD: On Oct. 26, a resident of Barnett Place reported someone made 11 fraudulent transactions on her bank account for $3,987.

THEFT: On Oct. 26, a deputy was dispatched to Jennings Mill Golf Course, where two Watkinsville men reported someone smashed windows in their vehicles parked on Chambers Court between 2:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. A 56-year-old man reported his wallet was taken, but the other man reported he found nothing missing from his truck.

SOLICITOR ARRESTED: On Oct. 27, a deputy was patrolling at the Oconee Connector when he saw a man holding a sign that read “I need a miracle.”

The officer knew that John Joseph Blaha had been warned on two prior occasions not to be soliciting money from motorists in the area. Blaha, 43, of Epps Bridge Parkway was charged with soliciting on a roadway.

SHOPLIFTING: On Oct. 28, a deputy was dispatched to Kohl’s where a woman was stopped while trying to leave the store with $68 worth of clothing. LTanya Brown, 58, of Winter Circle, Winterville, was charged with shoplifting.

VANDALISM: On Oct. 28, a deputy was dispatched to a home on Tappan Spur Road, where a woman found her trashcan knocked over at the end of her driveway. A note left behind called her an evil person.

TRAILER STOLEN: On Oct. 25, a Watkinsville man reported the theft of his 12-foot utility trailer from a location on the 7500 block of Macon Highway. The trailer was parked behind a relative’s house and the relative told the man the trailer has been gone for about a month.

WARRANT ARREST: On Oct. 28, a deputy went to a location on Atlanta Highway, Bogart, and arrested Joshua Brent Taylor, 34, of Athens Highway, Carnesville, on a felony warrant out of Franklin County.

BLOWER MISSING: On Oct. 28, a deputy was dispatched to Oconee Crossing subdivision, where a man said he removed a backpack leaf blower from his pickup so he could load his ATV for a hunting trip. He accidentally left the blower in the yard about 10 feet from the road and upon returning, he found someone had stolen the blower.

The man viewed his home surveillance video and it shows a small, dark-colored compact vehicle stop near his mailbox. The man told the deputy he isn’t interested in prosecuting if his blower is returned.

STOLEN MONEY FOUND: On Oct. 22, a deputy was dispatched to Cookout Express on Epps Bridge Parkway where the manager reported that a man found a bank bag on the ground at the nearby Murphy USA gas station and took it to the restaurant. The bag belonged to an employee of Cookout, who had earlier reported it stolen in Athens. The bag contained a check and $2,360 cash. Some other items in the bag were missing.

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